MERGER: Northern Continental chooses Hathor, not Denison

VANCOUVER and TORONTO — The bid by Denison Mines to acquire Northern Continental Resources of Vancouver has been withdrawn in light of a superior offer from Hathor Exploration.

Last June Denison, with an eye on Northern's 60% interest in the Russell Lake uranium project near Cameco's McArthur River mine in northern Saskatchewan, offered to acquire all of Northern by issuing new Denison shares to the shareholders of Northern Continental.

Hathor, which holds the remaining 40% of the Russell Lake project, also proposed an all-share deal, but its offer was deemed to represent a premium of 36% over the Denison offer. Northern withdrew its earlier support of Denison's offer in favour of the one from Hathor.

Hathor has about a dozen uranium exploration properties in the Athabasca Basin. Visit www.Hathor.ca for details.